Railroad-joint.



PATENTED NOV. 5, 1907.

M. BRAKE.

RAILROAD JOINT.

APPLIGATION HLBD APR.1,1907.

M DHAKE F1 rrr-.5..

wbb/www UNITED s'rafrns MICHAEL BRAKE,

OF CORA, IDAHO.

RAILROAD-JOINT.

Speciicaton of Letters Patent.

l Patented Nov. 5, 1907'.l

Application iiled April l. 1907. Serial No. 365.752.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHAEL BRAKE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cora, in the county of' Latah and State of Idaho, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Joints, and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in railway rail joints,particularly with reference to the construction of the meeting ends ofthe rails, so that the same are adapted to be secured together withoutthe use of theA chairs or other devices ordinarily employed at thejoints oi such rails, and it consists in the construction, combinationand arrangement of devices, hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure l is a perspective view of arailway rail joint embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsectional View of the same; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of thesame, on the plane indicated by the line a-a of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is avertical transverse sectional view of the same, on the plane indicatedby the line b-b of Fig. 2.

For the purposes of this specification, the meeting ends of the railsare here indicated at 1, 2. The rail end 1 has a tongue 3 extendinglongitudinally from its head and forming recesses 4 on opposite sides ofsaid tongue. A recess 5 is formed in said rail end under the innerportion of the said tongue. Said rail end is thickened on opposite sidesto form lateral extensions* G, the outer sides of which are flush withthe sides of the rail head, and the said extensions form the side wallsoi the recess 5. The rail base 7 is cut away to form a recess 8 underthe projecting end portions oi the said extensions 6. In the face of therecessed base is a recess 9. A recess 10 is formed in the under side ofthe tongue 3 and has a rentrant shoulder 11 at its lower outer corner.

The rail end 2 has a tongue l2 projecting from its base to enter therecess 9 of said rail end 1. The reinforce extensions 13 of said railend 2, which are otherwise similar to those of the rail end l, arerecessed at their ends, as at 14, to receive the projecting end portionsof the reinforce extensions G. In the head of the rail end 2 is recessl5, the upper side of which is open. Said recess is to receive thetongue 3 of the rail end 1. The bottom of said recess is coincident withthe upper side of a tongue 16, which lies in the angle between the baseof said rail end and the recessed ends 14 of the reinforce extensions13, and from the upper side of the said tongue extends a vertical hook18 to l enter the recess 10 ofthe tongue 3 and engage the shoulder 11thereof. The length of the said recess exceeds that of the said tongue,so that said rails may move longitudinally to a slight extent withrespect to each other, to enable them to be connected and disconnected,and also to compensate for expansion and contraction.

It will be understood that the tongue 12 and hook 18 of the rail end 1,by engagement respectively/with the recesses 9 and 10 of the rail end 1,prevent said end from rising independently of the rail end 2, that thetongue 3, and extensions 6 of the said rail end 1, which bear on therail end 2 prevent said rail end 2 from rising independently of the railend 1; that said reinforce extensions 6, 13, of the rail ends, togetherwith the coengaging tongue and recesses, between said extensions,prevent either of said ends from moving laterally independently of theother, so that the rails cannot spread, and that said tongues 3, 16, andextensions 6,13, coact to form a lap joint between said rail ends, sothat the weight of a train in passing over said joint is distributedbetween the rails and neither of the ends thereof can rise or fall andthe heads of the rails present an unbroken surface at the joints, forthe treads ofthe wheels to roll upon. The usual notches 19 are providedin the base flanges of the rails, for the reception of spikes, such asare usually employed to secure the rails on the cross ties.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction and without requiring a moreextended explanation.

Various changes in the form,` proportion and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the principle orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, as defined by theappended claims.

Having described my invention, I claimi- A rail joint comprisinga pairof rails, one of which is provided at its meeting ends with a recess inthe tread thereof and with its sides cut away to form a tongue, and averticallyextendng hook carried by said tongue, and the meeting end ofthe other rail having a longitudinallyextending' tongue formed at thetread thereof to fit in the recess in the tread of the other rail, saidtongue having a shouldered recess in its lower face to lit over andengage the vertical hook of the other rail and side ianges engaging theopposite sides of the tongue of the rst-mentioned rail.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

MICHAEL BRAKE.

Witnesses JOHN W. Cox. Louis WESTACOTT.

operation ofthe invention will be readily understood

